How This Class Works

I wanted to begin the course by giving you an overview of how this class works, so here goes:

• First off, you should begin each day by accessing our class website here and checking to see if I have posted anything new. This should always be your starting point for our class each day.
  
  
• The Syllabus will give you an overview of the Assignments for each Week. You should review it at the beginning of every week, so you can judge how you will need to budget your time.
  
  
• This is NOT a self-paced course. As you can see by the syllabus, there are specific due dates and times when assignments are due. Generally, the deadline for assignments will be 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard (Arizona) Time on the date listed, unless otherwise specified.
  
  
• As you can see by the Grading Breakdown (click on the Grading link), Discussion is the most heavily weighted factor (40%) in calculating your final grade. That is because Discussion is the primary learning activity you will be engaged in on a regular basis throughout the semester. I cannot emphasize enough how important Discussion is in this class. This is where you synthesize the knowledge you've gained from the readings and watching the films. Semester after semester I have found that the students who do the best job of truly engaging in the Discussions learn the most, enjoy the course the most, score highest on the exams, and are the ones who earn A's for the course.
  
  
  Generally, you will have one or two Discussions due each week. In addition to posting your own thoughts, I want you to read what your classmates have posted and to respond to each other. Do not be a hit-and-run poster who only makes their own posts but does not truly engage in the Discussion. Hit-and-run posters learn the least and miss out on the fun of the discussion.
  
  
  Be sure to read the overview on Discussion (click on the Discussion link) which explains the requirements and mechanics of the Discussion in far greater detail as well as how Discussions are graded.
  
  
• The Critical Analysis is worth 20% of your final grade. I will post the assignment for the Critical Analysis later in the semester.
  
  
• The Midterm is also worth 20% of your final grade. It will cover all of the material (readings from the text, additional readings on the syllabus, the films themselves, etc.) from the beginning of class up until the date of the Midterm. .
  
  
• The Final Exam is also worth 20% of your final grade and will include all of the material covered from the Midterm up until the date of the Final Exam. In addition, I will expect you to retain the general principles of the film movements we covered during the first half of the course. For example, for the Final Exam I would expect you to remember that the German Expressionist filmmakers shot almost exclusively inside the studio. And thus, that would still be fair game for the Final.
  
  
• A Word about the Exams. You take both the Midterm and the Final on blackboard. The exams will include True/False, Multiple Answer, Multiple Choice, Fill-in-the-blank(s), and Matching questions.
  
  
  The exam covers the readings as well as the assigned films. Let's start with the readings. It is impossible to cover all of the directors and films that are mentioned in your text. However, I will expect you to know the major directors, their films, and the major developments within each film movement/national cinema that we study. That means I'll expect you to know the major directors and their films/styles even if we don't watch their films. For example, we are not watching a Truffaut film this semester during our section on the French New wave. However, I will expect you to know about Truffaut (a major figure in the French New Wave) and his major films for purposes of the exam.
  
  
  Similarly, I will expect you to know the general principles and important developments of each film movement that we cover in the assigned readings, even if they are not specifically discussed in class. For example, we will not watch at Dogme95 film during the course and it may or may not come up during class discussion or a min-lecture. Nevertheless, given the attention paid to it in the text, I will expect you to know the basic principles of Dogme 95.
  
  
  You must also know the assigned films well. I recommend that you watch each assigned film at least twice—the first time simply for pleasure and the second time in a more analytical manner. Some of the exam questions simply test whether or not you actually watched the film closely. For example, at one point in The Rules of the Game, Octave (a major character) dresses up as a bear. In the past, I've asked students a fill-in-the-blank question asking what costume Octave wears at one point during the party scene. Anyone who watched the film should be able to answer this question easily. When someone cannot, it sends up a red flag for me.

  
  

  Other questions regarding the films are much more analytical and serious in nature. For example, you should be able to distinguish the cinematography and themes in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from Bicycle Thieves. And you should know the significance of the Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin.
  
  
  Both the Midterm and Final are open book/open note exams; however, there will be a time limit which means you will not have much time to look for answers. What I am saying is that you need to study for the exam to do well. I know it seems silly to have to say that, but for some reason each semester there are some students who think that because this is a film class the exams will be easy. Trust me, that is NOT the case.
  
  
• Email––yours and mine. The best way to reach me is via email. I check it several times a day and will almost always get back to you within 24 hours at the latest during the week and 48 hours on weekends. My emails to you will use your official ASU email address as listed on the class roster. It is up to you to check your ASU email (or have it forwarded to the email server you use most). But again, I want to emphasize that my emails will go to your ASU email. Do not ask me to send it to another account.
  
  
• Late work. I do not accept late assignments unless they are cleared with me ahead of time.
  
  
• Getting the films. As noted in the Films link, it is up to you to acquire the films for the course. If you are using a rental service, as I recommend you do, be sure to plan ahead so that you have the films when you need them. Refer to the Syllabus to see when we will be studying each film.

Hopefully, this overview has given you a general idea of what to expect from the course. As always, should you have any questions, please email me. And again, welcome to the class.